I have been contacted by 3 different people in the last week to see if I can help with the case of a Congolese Albino woman who is seeking asylum to New Zealand. She hopes to get to Kampala to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office for safety until she can process the journey to NZ. These 3 people are hoping someone can help get her to the UN and help get her case seen.
An albino child in Tanzania
All I could do was pass on the information to a friend of mine who is the Director of International Justice Mission in Kampala. Maybe he can help her.
What is her case? What is she fleeing from?
Death and organ harvesting, according to the report.
There is a belief in many parts of Africa that albino body parts have stro
ng powers, and witch doctors use them in various ritual killings and potions. Kidnapping and sacrifice of these albinos is not unheard of...in fact, last year I remember reading an article a
bout the albinos in Tanzania who were given
mobile phones by the Tanzanian government with toll free emergency numbers that they could call if they felt someone was trying to kidnap them.
an albino baby
The sister of this Congolese albino who is seeking asylum was also an albino...she had already been kidnapped and killed, and her body 'hung out to dry'...apparently they dry the skin and bones and then crush them into powder for the witchdoctors to use in their potions.
That is the potential fate that this woman is running from.
I don't understand this level of evil...my brain just can't take it in. I've seen mob justice in Uganda...a man was beaten to death by a crowd of people right in front of my eyes. His crime...stealing the equivalent of $30 from a small shop.
I saw the rage come into the eyes of the mob...it was almost animalistic, like some deep
primeval emotion that gripped the mob and filled them with blood lust. It freaked me out, to say the least.
But this kidnapping and slaughtering of albinos, as if they were animals...this one is beyond me. How dark the blind that satan has pulled over the eyes of these kidnappers and witchdoctors.
What hope is there? In this morning's quiet time, I read in Proverbs 11:21...
"Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished,
but those who are righteous will go free."
Is that any consolation at all to someone who is literally running for her life? Does the promise of God's judgement upon the wicked satisfy the victim enough? Especially if she never sees the judgement in the land of the living?
African albinos
A friend of the YWAM base called Charles who has a 'boda boda' business, which just m
eans driving people to and from town and various other places on his motorbike, was called to pick up a lady the other night. When he had dropped her at her destination, he was given a soda an
d woke up half a day later.
His phone and his motorbike were gone.
A boda boda driver...not Charles
So what does he do? It's unlikely the police will be able to help him. So does he take matters into his own hands and try to hunt down his perpetrators and his bike?
"Vengeance is mine," declares the Lord,
but think about this for a minute. This friend had a loan from the bank for that motorbike that he was still paying off. He has children about to go back to school that need school fees. He was also helping put his brother through school. He was building a house, and had materials that still needed paying for. Not to mention food and basic things, like medicine.
How hard it is to turn the other cheek! Everything within us rises up and wants to do something! I remember when the thief came and took all our money...some people wanted to do a search throughout the neighborhood of all our neighbors' homes! Others wanted to go room by room throughout the base and search all of us staff.
Somehow there is a basic need to take matters into our own hands and fix it.
I was talking about Charles' problem with a Ugandan friend, and she said, "He just has to forgive those people and let it go. He just has to pray and trust God for another motorbike."
Yes, I would agree with that, oh, but the internal struggle! Dealing with the betrayal and
violation, the fear and injustice. It's a narrow road that we have to walk to follow in His footsteps.
Do I trust God to judge the wicked and punish them one day? Absolutely. But would I be so strong if I was the one who's sister had just been slaughtered, who was running for her life and forced to go live somewhere thousands of miles away in a foreign land because my own people wanted to kill me?
Just because I have no skin pigment?
I just shake my head sometimes. It's too baffling for me.
And when that happens I can only fall on my knees and declare,
"Lord, I believe You are good, and that all Your ways are good.
I believe You will judge the wicked and reward the righteous,
but I pray for Your grace now...in this moment when the wicked are running free,
wrecking havoc and ruining lives.
I pray You would help me lift my shield of faith to trust You
no matter what it looks like around me.
No matter my circumstances, or those of others,
let me cling to Your promises
and pray that Your kingdom come and Your will be done,
in the life of the Congolese woman,
in the life of Charles,
in my own life,
just as it is in Heaven.
In all situations, You are worthy to be praised.
Amen."
Please take a moment to pray for the Congolese woman and the safety of albinos in Africa.
Pray also for Charles.
Thank you.
